Sweet 16

Oh, my sweet angel is 16 months old. She is quite the character. Some of her recent accomplishments:
*gracefully falling down the stairs - coming out alive and a little rug burn nose. I earned the worst mom award.
* "no, no, no" said with a mischievous grin
* loves to feed herself. meals consist of ketchup or ranch with a side of chicken
* still loves her "PUPPIES!"
* Zoe loves books- more than any toy
* explores, runs, bounces- she loves adventures
words:
* nkie = blankie
* ummy = yummy
* nigh-nigh = night night
* mommy
*daddy
* tanta = santa
*hi
*tank-too= thank you
*puppy!
*tree

I love this girl!

P.S. Really loving my memory suite right now. These pages are sooo easy.

Christmas- Phase 1

My sis n law, Brendalyn let us borrow her keyboard. I have to prove to Andy that I will use it before I get my own piano. It is a great babysitter when I need to distract Zoe for a few minutes. I love how she is so delicate when pressing the keys. It is never too early to start raising my lil' Mozart.

Frost bite... not really

FYI: If you can't see.read it, click on it to make it bigger.

I resolute....

This is a start. I'm going to resolute this year to journal more frequently. My big thing this last year was to make memories, now I just need to make sure I document them. A friend of mine chooses a word that she focuses on throughout the year. So I have decided that this word will be mine:

I want to appreciate and.or show appreciation to:

* my family
* my husband
*my daughter
*my job
*the "things" I have, and being content
*time
*moments- funny, sad, happy or frustrated
*blessings big and small
*trials that make me stronger
*all the simple things

I hope by doing this I can in some small way slow down time and realize the important things. I'm just gonna be happy!

My Lil' Snow Angel

This is just a test

To tackle a lack of time and well... my laziness, I think I'm going to try to first scrap my photos first and then just post the scrapped page on my blog. So, this is me testing the photo quality of my scrapbook page.

If Anyone is Interested

I have an extra My Memories Suite digital scrapbooking software to sell. I have it and love it. I take my blog entries and put them on scrapbook templates so I can make a book of my blog. I am also going to make it into a DVD to send to family who does not get to see Zoe all of the time. This program is perfect for this. It sells for $60, but I'm selling it for $50.
You can check out their website at http://mymemoriessuite.com/.
Let me know if you are interested. If no one I know wants it, I'm just going to put it on amazon.

Adorable? You better believe it!

Okay, so here are a few pictures of my little Zoe. The weather was so nice this last week that we spent time playing before I had to go to work. Zoe loves the new found freedom that walking gives her. Too bad she is enjoying the outdoors just in time for winter ( Don't worry that isn't a problem- stay tuned for another post about this). The first place she heads for is the road. I bark at her and she steers herself down the sidewalk. She is getting so good at walking that she almost runs. It's more like a quick shuffle. Zoe looked adorable this day so i took tons of pictures. I love her facial expressions. I can't wait until she is a little older so she will actually pose for me. Zoe loves giving raspberries.
She is off!

A Cute Lil' Witch

Picture overload! Yay!
Here is the costume I made Zoe. It was nothing fancy, but homemade- which is all that counts. I already have plans for next year's Halloween.

There she goes. She finally got the hang of it.Trick or Treating with Grandpa MalzerElora and Zoe

October- Part 1

We had a very busy October. I had the first 3 weeks off of work. The first 10 days we spent with my family in Kentucky. We played with Grandma and Grandpa, went to the museum, and played a ton with Carter. Zoe and Carter got along so well. Carter played great with Zoe. Zoe went to her very first football game. I went to Empress Chili at least 3 or maybe 4 times. YUM. We also stopped by the pumpkin patch to get pictures before the long trip to the airport. Here are some pictures from our trip.Zoe being silly with Grandma's glasses.

Fun times at the Cincinnati Children's Musuem.
Fun times at Great Granparent's house.
It started out innocent.Then Uncles mad Zoe mad by trapping her in.

Out came Zoe.In went Carter. What a cute kid.
Zoe with my brother, Nate.Great Grandma Rosie playing with Carter and Zoe.
Zoe and Great Grandpa Alan
Playing piggy back on Grandpa's back. I know there are pictures of us as kids all piled on my dad's back. Carter was so sweet to Zoe. She misses him a lot!Sleep over at Grandma's house. Here you can have popsicles for breakfast.
Zoe insisted on sharing with Carter.

September continued

Zoe's last night as a baby. I held her close and rocked her.

Spending time with Daddy at the fire station.

Riding in her very own firetruck.

Err. Please ignore the underlined font. Darn blogger.

Oh my!

overwhelmed, over-booked, under pressure, unprepared, unsuccessful. These are words to describe me this past month. I can't catch up. My list grows and grows and fewer things are being checked off. I thought I would add a brief update with what the family is up to. I really want to catch up, but spare time this week is being spent studying for a state test i have to take Saturday.
SO...
I work.
Andy works.
Zoe works to keep me busy. She will be 14 months in a few days. She is such a crazy! She is climbing, running, dancing and twirling. She loves books. She loves to make messes. She does not like to sit and eat. She does not like to eat. She still loves her milk during cuddle time. She gives kisses. Open mouth. And sometimes a slip of tongue. She loves her puppies and "puppies" is actually the clearest word she says. She seeks adventure. Cries when she falls. Gets back up and does it again. And cries. I ignore that. She sits forward in her car seat and whines the whole time. I think I will reverse her- so what if her legs are folded up and cramped. Zoe does what I call 'happy feet'. She will twirl around and do a little cha-cha. maybe she likes the squeaks her squeaky shoes make. She has 3 teeth. One on top, two on bottom. No new appearances in the last month. I hope this means they are going to be super strong when they come out. She giggles and giggles. LOVES tickles, but not on her feet. Little Miss Independent. A toddler, I'm sad to say. Smiles- a lot. Thinks it's funny when mom says "no". Loves to undue, to destruct, to empty. Bookshelves, cupboards, laundry, wipes, tissues and even the trash can is not safe. All of these things must be emptied or she is not satisfied. Hoping she will love to put things away. soon- for my sanity. Loves her firetruck and cars. They go "vroooom". She loves animals. Any kind. And I love her. Her smile tickles my heart.

zo-zo, zoes, rosey, zo-ro, boo, pumpkin

1st Birthday Celebrations

We started birthday morning with a balloon and signing! Zoe opens a birthday card from Grandma Judy.I love this face. She looks so grown-up.

Andy and I took Zoe to the zoo. It was a beautiful day. Zoe was much more aware of the animals compared to 4 months ago. She would reach out and try to touch the animals.

Yummy lunch!

Zoe was unsure of the kitty cats. She whined every time we tried to sit her down to get a picture.

Zoe's first carousel ride.

The Birthday Party! We had a little party for Zoe Saturday, the 19th. A lot of things didn't go as planned. But I tried to look past it and make it a day for Zoe. We tried to have a pizza picnic at the park near our house. BUT the WIND! It was ridiculous! My salad blew off my plate. It was horrible. About 1/2 hour later came the lightening and rain. We saw it coming in the distance and had time to clean up to finish the celebrations at the house. What a joke. But in the end, it turned out okay.

Zoe loved having her very own piece of pizza. YUM.

Grandma and Grandpa Malzer, Wendy and the girls, Angela and Wyatt were able to come celebrate with us. Coleman and Xochi met us at the house.

Zoe's cake and cupcakes.

I LOVE watching cake decorating shows, and I have come to the conclusion that I am in no way an artist. But that's okay. Zoe still thought it was yummy!

Happy Birthday to You!

She was very gentle. Boy, do I love her!

She took a couple of bites and then threw the rest on the floor.

And then... she found a spot to hold her finger.

Presents! Zoe is very spoiled! Here she is in her very own firetruck. She got a book reader whose main character is a little pig tailed girl named Zoe from Grandma and Grandpa Malzer, Jodie, Brendalyn, and the Andersons. Ang and Wyatt got Zoe an adorable interactive purse and toys. Cole and Xochi got Zoe a cute pink BYU hat. Zoe got a lullaby glow worm and firetruck from her mom and dad. In the end the day was wonderful; Zoe was loved and that is all that matters to me.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Journaling for my memory book. Pictures will come tomorrow.

My baby is a toddler! AH! This is such a bittersweet moment. I miss my teeny cuddly baby, but I LOVE seeing Zoe change each day. Her personality is so distinct. It is hard to describe. Ever since she was just a teeny thing, she has interacted with people. At times she seems older to me than other babies I see her age. She is very aware of the world around her. She is observant. I think she is going to grow up to be very compassionate and nurturing to others- family and strangers. She is unique- my Zoe is one of a kind!

Zoe is a nut! She loves to laugh. She makes herself laugh all the time. She will do silly faces in the mirror and then crack up laughing. She moves constantly around the house pounding her hands against anything that makes noise. Her latest game is stopping mid-crawl and banging the floor with her hands and giggling. Tonight she was crawling. She stopped, put her butt up in the air and her head on the floor. Don't know why, but she did it over and over and thought it was the funnest game ever.

She loves the dogs! She tries to play with Dax, but the minute she gets close he runs away. Harley, on the other hand, loves to get in Zoe's face. Zoe has never laughed harder than when playing with Harley. He'll chase her around and she spills in laughter.

Zoe is talking more these days. She does pretty good with repeating sounds that you say. "Hi" and "WOW" are the words that are the most clear.

We are days away from independent walking. Hopefully before the Ky trip in 2 weeks. She lacks the confidence in doing it on her own. She likes to have someone near her, holding her hand. She walks best for Andy. That's probably because she will do anything to be with him. She ADORES her daddy.

Zoe Rose,
You turned into a big girl today! I wanted you to know how much I love you. I waited a long time for you. I'm so glad that the prayers I cried this last year were for gratitude that I have you in my life. Everyday I am grateful that you here and I realize the miracle you are. I hope I can be the best mommy I can be, for you. You are a choice spirit, and I hope you always remember your worth. You will do great things one day. I love you, sweet girl.
Momma.

One year ago...

today it all started. The first contractions.

Do you have a time machine I can borrow?

I am having quite the emotional night! Zoe turns 1 in less than 2 weeks. The days go by so fast that I can't get enough of Zoe. I wish I could grab time for just a minute so I can sit and absorb every second with my little girl. I love my job, but hate the time and energy it takes from me. I am glad for my break in 3 weeks. Hallelujah!

Oh, I am SO behind. For blog book reasons there are going to be a lot of pictures. Don't like it? Don't care. It's my blog! Ha. Why do people always apologize for a lot of pictures? I love pictures!

August 15-25. My mom came to visit and watch Zoe for me while I worked. We played at home a lot, went swimming, shopping, ear piercing, and took a WILD ride through AF canyon. Zoe QUICKLY fell in love with Grandma Judy. I fell in love with a live-in nanny.

This is our trip to Cascade Springs.Zoe didn't like the ice cold water, but held out long enough for me to get a picture. So after the lovely walk around the springs, Andy decided to take us on a car ride through the canyon. This picture describes how I felt about it:I am the BIGGEST chicken and am deathly afraid of cliffs, heights and curvy wurvy roads. I literally freaked out. Anxiety, hyperventilation, thoughts of death filling my head. We spent a WHOLE HOUR driving on unpaved roads. The roads jumbled Zoe to sleep,
mom was tousled very close to death ( bumpiness=blurry picture),

which resulted in me giving Andy "THE LOOK". A map? Really? I was definitely ready to go home. But Andy was set to explore. I lost this 'discussion'.

SO, I took more pictures. I tried to get some of the huge ol' drop offs, but even looking in that direction freaked me out. So here is a shot of the tops of trees that were at eye level and me NOT looking.

Don't worry. We didn't go off the cliff and die. Although Andy did manage to put the car UP on the side of a cliff on 3 wheels. My mom and I were for sure we were going to roll the car and end up going off the road and down the huge drop off on the other side. Traumatic, very traumatic. I will be scarred for life.

SO Perty!

Last night Andy, my mom and I took Zoe to the mall to get her ears pierced. I had planned on doing it for her first birthday, but decided now will be a great time to do it since my mom is in town. Now I have her to help take care of Zoe's ears throughout the day. Andy hadn't minded getting her ears done when we talked about it months ago, but when the day arrived he had issues. Not that she is too young, but that it would hurt. Me on the other hand, say, Ah! No big deal! I had mine done when I was around a year old as well. Some people have their own feelings about ear piercing, but I'm glad I get to say "She's mine, and I'll do what I want!" Okay, so maybe I got a little thrill out of doing it, because people said I shouldn't. Oh well!

Before she knew what was coming:

We thought it was all over... but the backs weren't on! That was probably the worst part.

The overall experience wasn't horrible, but their was crying involved. Zoe's tears and MAYBE one or two from Andy.

Zoe also got to have her first sucker. Hmmm... we probably should have given her the sucker to begin with.

All I can say is that I'm glad my mom was there to help hold her. I don't know if I could have done it with just me and Andy.